2022 Cybercrime Study Reveals How Vulnerable Orange County Business Are

Cybercrime is a plague in the business world, and it’s only getting more severe.

According to a recent study, the number of cybersecurity incidents worldwide has increased by 15% since 2019.

Don’t assume that this is just the cost of doing business—30% of incidents cost more than $500,000 in damages.

That begs the question: can your Orange County business afford to get hit by cybercrime?

Cybercrime Threats Are Evolving For Orange County Businesses

Every day, cybercriminals attempt to adapt their methods to overcome new standards and defenses in cybersecurity. Nowhere is this more evident than with ransomware.

Nearly 50% of companies polled state they have been infected with ransomware in the past three years, and 39% reported paying a ransom. Nearly one-fifth stated the ransom cost them $500,000 or more

The fact is that the way cybercriminals use ransomware has evolved. They have improved their tactics and capabilities, allowing them to do much more damage, and demand much more money.

Characteristics of modern ransomware attacks include:

• Expanded Timelines: Sophisticated attackers sneak ransomware into a breached network and then lay dormant for weeks or months, ensuring their method of entry isn’t discovered right away. This gives them time to embed themselves, steal data, and more, all before they actually activate the ransomware and infect the systems. Without undertaking extensive forensic processes, an infected business won’t know how far back they need to go to back up their systems. Or, even worse, it will be so far back that they’ve already expunged those backups to make room for more recent versions.
• Improved Capabilities: Modern forms of ransomware can even target and infect backup hard drives and cloud-based data if the connections are left unsecured. That’s why cybersecurity professionals are now recommending digitally-air-gapped backups as well.  Given the effectiveness of modern ransomware attacks, defensive methods and best practices from just a few years ago are already losing feasibility. All of this is to say that you can’t assume you won’t be infected at some point.

Cybercriminals Are Targeting Weak Links In The Orange County Business Supply Chain

Are you the most viable target in the supply chain?

The fact is that cybercriminals know where their efforts will be most effective. They won’t have much success targeting massive companies that have the necessary resources to defend themselves. That’s why they target smaller companies in the supply chain of those larger businesses.

Cybercriminals can take advantage of the small company’s lower security standards and still access the same data. If you run a small business that shares data with larger companies, you need to consider yourself a target by proxy.

For small businesses, the situation is especially dire. According to a study conducted jointly between Cisco and the National Center for the Middle Market, over 50% of small businesses have no cybersecurity strategy or plan in place and for those that do, most have not reviewed the plan in over a year.

A cybersecurity strategy and plan, once created and adopted, must be reviewed at least annually to ensure that current threats are being included.

Cybersecurity is not a one-and-done solution; the threat landscape evolves at a rapid pace and frequent reviews ensure that the plan will help reduce an organization’s cyber risk profile. That’s why you need to be aware of the greatest threats to your business and plan against them.

Are You Sure Your IT Company Is Keeping Your Orange County Business Secure?

You can’t assume that all IT companies deliver the same degree and quality of cybersecurity support.

You would be shocked at what the Technijian team has uncovered during our assessments of new clients’ systems. Repeated passwords, unprotected endpoints, missing MFA, the list goes on.

Selecting a company to maintain your technology is one of the most important decisions you can make for your business. You must find the most competent and reliable IT support provider in your area.

Does Your Orange County Business Need Expert Cybersecurity Guidance?

Don’t let basic cybersecurity put you at risk, and don’t assume you have to handle advanced cybersecurity all on your own—Technijian can help you assess your cybersecurity and develop a plan to enhance it.

You can start improving your cybersecurity by getting in touch with our team.